GamerEscape

Personally, I’m no stranger to story-driven adventure games. While many people look in Telltale’s direction for many of the genre’s best examples, the Life is Strange series has been chugging along pretty steadily since its inception back in 2015. Spanning multiple stories and multiple protagonists, these narrative-based adventure games have held their own in the growing library of games this series now has. However, those who found themselves wondering what happened to Max Caufield after the events of the original game were left out in the cold for the most part.

Save for a prequel game that slots Chloe in as the protagonist, the possibility of a continuation of Max’s story seemed up in the air. However, with the impeding release of Double Exposure on October 29th, that wait will have new and returning players seeing what Max has been up to since the original game. Given prior titles, a trilogy didn’t seem out of the question when you think about it. It has been a while since we last saw her, so I’m hoping that the developer currently handling the franchise does so in a way that will satisfy everyone.

Developed by Deck Nine and published by Square Enix, Life is Strange: Double Exposure will release on prior-gen consoles (PS4/Xbox One), current-gen consoles (PS5/Xbox Series X | S), and PC (Steam/Windows Store) later this month. A version for Switch will come at a later date. The PS5 version was played for this preview.

Picture This

Despite the events that occurred with Max and Chloe in the original game, life continues to march on. Taking place in late 2023 and opening with Max doing a little urban exploration for photography’s sake, we find that she’s doing relatively well for herself. Her time-rewinding abilities have long laid dormant since Arcadia Bay. She’s now teaching at Caledon University in Vermont as an artist-in-residence, and she’s joined in exploring the abandoned space with her new best friend Safi. Daughter of the President of Caledon, she helps Max in getting her snaps (and helps her avoid harm from the subject).

Shortly after that, they both meet up with their astrophysicist buddy Moses at the local watering hole. After an awkward social mishap or two, the three of them do some rooftop stargazing in the winter cold. It’s here where Safi gets an important call and excuses herself, and Max eventually tails after her to make sure everything is okay. She quickly learns that isn’t the case, as Safi is found at a nearby overlook, shot dead in cold blood.

While the traumatic experience shakes Caledon as a whole to its core, Max find herself in an understandably depressive slump. She hasn’t seemed to fully get over losing Chloe in Arcadia Bay, and now Safi has suffered a similar fate. Naturally, she wants to get to the bottom of who is behind this murder. Any mystery reader worth their weight in salt may have seen a similar setup in the past; Max must put on her best detective hat to piece it all together with her newfound ability to shift between two timelines. One where Safi remains murdered, and one where she’s still alive and kicking.

While I only had access to the first two episodes of the game, it gave me a pretty good idea as to what to expect for the remaining chapters that will drop later this month. Once the plot fully entrenches itself in the murder mystery angle, it does see some improvement over what players experience in what happened in the original game.

Gone are the trappings of the high school environment of Blackwell, and the teenage slice-of-life vibe that comes with it. With Max now navigating her late twenties, it is nice to see that she’s come into her own and shed (most) of that teenage awkwardness on full display in the original game. Some may not entirely enjoy the more slice-of-life portions of the story, but much of the story in the first two chapters are understandably wrapped up in Safi’s murder.

There are some elements that did irk me, though I will reserve them for a (likely) full review later this month if that comes to pass. What’s currently here is enough to help keep your attention and wanting to experience each plot development as it transpires. I found Max to be a much more engaging protagonist than I did in the original, though there are moments where Hannah Telle’s performances echoed some of the awkwardness that came across in her first performance as Max.

Regardless, the story presented for this preview does have me wondering how later episodes will parse out the developments of the first two. This really shouldn’t surprise me given the amount of time the franchise has been around. But I’m sure there are folks who primarily concerned themselves with the original game and Before the Storm that will find themselves enjoying the murder mystery present here. My first impressions are positive for the most part, but I’m definitely taking a “so far so good” stance on the story for the time being.

Shift in Perspective

Those familiar with the franchise know that protagonists with supernatural abilities are par for the course. While the franchise as a whole leans pretty hard into wrapping hidden science fiction elements into a real-life environment, it is kind of nice that they made the decision to give Max a new ability. I personally had nothing against the rewind mechanic in the first game, but the timeline shifting seems to flow a little better into the sleuthing aspect of the game better than I thought it would. Oftentimes, it’s used to help solve an at-the-time problem. But there are glimmers of clever use of the time shift mechanic.

There is an instance where Max needs to obtain intel on one of her fellow instructors. In one timeline, Max is blocked out of the office of her colleague because she’s currently occupying it in a time when she needs access to the space. Luckily for her, the other timeline has said character being escorted off campus due to some external shenanigans. With a quick trip to the predetermined time shift spot, she’s able to snoop around the space to obtain the intel that she needs to advance the plot.

Players will also find this useful in other instances, as she’s able to ask probing questions to her friends in one timeline to use to her advantage in the other. I didn’t mind the time manipulation aspect of it, because it’s a decent use of a primary gameplay gimmick. It’s not going to be anything particularly complicated, but at least they’ve put some thought into how to use this in the moment-to-moment gameplay.

Max also gains a secondary ability that lets her see objects in the other timeline in relation to the one she’s currently in. Sometimes this is used to solve one of the game’s many puzzles, but it’s not used as heavily as the timeline shift mechanic. Implementation is used in a way that makes sense, thankfully. It’s possible that later episodes may use this more heavily as the plot progresses, but it’s not exactly something that is front in center in the first two.

Fans will be relieved to know that this game doesn’t stray too far from its choice-based roots, either. Dialogue is often littered with answers to at-the-moment questions that may or may not affect how certain plot elements transpire. Something as innocuous as choosing to withhold information could end up becoming important later, and the game will frame more important choices in a time-freezing moment that could easily change the course of the story. These often reflect the personality of the player, but at least the choices in question don’t do anything drastic to alter the gameplay experience.

Not every moment will land as much as others, but at least Deck Nine knew to play towards the strength of what fans enjoy. While it doesn’t stray too far from the established formula, the overall gameplay is part and parcel for the franchise and the genre it occupies. It’s nice to see them trying to do something new for Max in the gameplay department, though it does ultimately become something of a natural fit given her character. Depending on how later episodes handle the gameplay, I’m certain it’ll be a lot more involved than the first two.

Cold Campus, Warm Case

Games that come from AAA publishers like Square Enix typically come with certain expectations when it comes to presentation. Especially in modern times, you can often tell where the budget of one game often dwarfs the budget of others. Despite being a franchise in its own right, Life is Strange games typically carry a sort of indie vibe despite being latched onto such a major publisher.

Visually speaking, you’re not going to see the level of detail you might come to expect from something like Final Fantasy XVI or something similar. Despite that, this looks like a modern game in its own right. The first couple of chapters largely focused on limited environments at or near Caledon. So you’ll be doing a lot of traversing around the environment, one that looks rather nice given the winter setting. Character models don’t look especially low-effort, but they do bear the mark of the budget they have.

One thing worth noting is that I ran into some visual bugs in the middle of gameplay. These end up being minor inconveniences at most, but the game occasionally crashed and a restart was necessary. Getting stuck in geometry is something I hope that gets patched in the full game. Not necessarily game breaking, but it’s still something I hope gets fixed in the short time before launch.

Things on the audio side are about what you’d expect from the franchise by now. The music often takes a more casual Norah Jones-esque vibe to it, much to the surprise of no fan. Given that prior games have set this precedent already, I’m not surprised to see it here. It does bleed into the background a little, but I don’t honestly mind. It’s just part of the charm at this point, and those who appreciated it in prior games will enjoy it here.

Voice acting definitely seems to have been a focus, especially when you look back at the original game. Some of that is wrapped up in the script, but I actually enjoyed seeing this improvement during gameplay. Max is still a bit awkward, but her performance in the game is a definite upgrade from what came before. Everyone else delivers their lines appropriate to the tone they’ve set. Playing with the fact that this is the same-but-different setup, it was honestly refreshing to see a cast of well-adjusted adults in comparison to the high school drama seen in the original game.

Regardless, I don’t hate the presentation here. It looks and sounds like a game in the franchise, so that’s something for fans to feel good about. While I’m sure there are some that might not be a fan of how some of these lines are delivered, it’s nice to know that what I’ve experienced so far is cohesive and decent at the very least.

Merely a Snapshot

One caveat of previews like these being so close to launch is one of addressing issues quickly. While there are bugs present in this build of the game, my confidence isn’t high that these will be addressed in time for release. Regardless, playing these two chapters gives me enough of an idea for what to expect in the two-ish weeks before launch. I feel confident that what’s here will satisfy franchise fans, but I’m hoping some of those glitches get squashed in the meantime.

Life Is Strange: Double Exposure is shaping up to be a worthy entry in the franchise, but I have been burned before by a decent preview experience devolving into something a lot less cohesive than I was expecting it to be. Despite some of my concerns, Max’s timeline flipping antics wrapped up in a murder mystery was fun for what it is. Whether or not the entire package will be worth it remains to be seen, but I’m choosing to be optimistic here. Fans want a worthy follow up, and so far it’s shaping up to be one.

Preview code provided by Square Enix for coverage purposes. Screenshots taken by writer. Featured image courtesy of Square Enix.